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Suggested
Rating: for all readers
Category: Daniel/Janet friendship
Setting: Season 1, missing scenes for The Broca Divide
Synopsis: Doctor Frasier is settling in to her new
role as CMO, and learning a little bit about some of her patients.
Author’s
Comments: Part 1 in The Journey series. Many thanks to Sonia for being my
faithful beta reader and editor.
DISCLAIMER: All
publicly recognizable characters and places (the Stargate SG-1 stuff)
are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret Productions. This piece of fan fiction was created
for entertainment only and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks was
intended. Previously unrecognized
characters and places, and this story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons, living
or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
TRIALS AND IMPRESSIONS
- by Michelle Lunsford (January
2005)
“Can
we help you, Doctor Jackson?”
Janet
Frasier immediately heard the sound of Nurse Taylor’s precise voice,
but it was several seconds before the significance of the inquiry registered
in her mind.
Doctor Jackson…? SG-1 brought him back…? He’s alive!
Janet
glanced up, the latest medical record she’d been studying completely
forgotten. Sure enough the fourth
member of the SGC’s flagship team was standing in the infirmary
doorway, alive and well.
Her eyes
narrowed slightly as she took a closer look. Okay,
maybe the ‘well’ part is a bit too optimistic.
His
clothes were ripped in several places.
They were also rather filthy.
He looked exhausted and not much cleaner than his uniform. And his hair… well, before now
Janet wouldn’t have thought it possible for hair of that length to stand
up in so many directions.
“Um,
General Hammond wanted me to report here,” the young man replied. His expression was apologetic, almost
sheepish, as he met the nurse’s gaze. “Said I should get checked
out.”
Janet
moved towards one of the empty beds.
“Right this way, Doctor Jackson,” she called, waving him
over.
She
watched him closely as he crossed the room. No immediate signs of injury, she
noted, and nothing about his gait indicated anything. He hopped up onto the bed with
ease. But when he moved to slip
out of his jacket, his distinct wince clearly told her something was amiss.
She took
a step closer and pulled a stethoscope from her lab coat pocket. “Want to tell me what
happened?”
“I,
uh…” He hesitated,
then finally acquiesced, “I became infected, like one of the
Touched.”
Janet
nodded and placed her stethoscope over his heart. “Obviously SG-1 was able to
administer the antidote. Take a
deep breath, please.” She
paused, listening. “Did you
sustain any injuries while you were infected? Are you having any pain?”
“My
left side hurts a little,” he confessed, “and I think I’ve
got some scratches on my arms and legs.
Nothing serious though.”
Heart rate normal, breathing just
a little shallow,
she made mental notations as she draped the stethoscope around her neck. Her fingers began an expert
examination along his left side.
A light pressure just above his last rib resulted in a sharp intake of
breath.
Janet
eyed him curiously but he offered no further information. Fighting against a frown – she
hated it when her patients took the stubborn route – she leaned forward
and carefully pulled up the edge of his shirt for a closer look. The dark purplish marks spread nearly
the length of his entire rib cage.
This time
her expression was pure doctoral reprimand. “Nothing serious? Doctor
Jackson, it looks like someone took a baseball bat to your ribs.” She could tell her voice had taken on
a harsh edge, but after everything that had happened over the past several
hours she simply didn’t have the energy to fight against it. “Maybe you better tell me again
what happened, and don’t skip the details this time.”
He stared
at her, clearly taken aback by her abrupt demeanor. Then his mouth settled into a hard
thin line.
“Fine,”
he replied, his own tone just as terse as hers had been. “Teal’c and I went to
P3X-797, as instructed, to collect your blood samples. Shortly after arriving on the dark side
of the planet we found Melosha, on the ground, unconscious but alive. I stopped to help her, because I
didn’t think we should just leave
her there. We were attacked
by the Touched. Teal’c
attempted to scare them away by firing his gun, but before I could do the
same I was tackled and dragged off.
They took me and Melosha to one of their camping areas.” He paused, barely taking a breath,
waving his hands at his clothing as he plowed on, “They practically
strip searched me, did a bit of pawing and manhandling as some show of
dominant male authority, and then deposited me by the fire. I stayed low, and when I thought I
could sneak away, tried to do so.
But one of them saw me and then, yes, there ensued a good bit of
clubbing and kicking to my ribcage.
I passed out then, and by the time I woke I must have already been
under the influence of the infection.
It’s all a bit fuzzy after that, so I hope you don’t need
any further details, Doctor.”
Janet
held his gaze, not the least bit intimidated. It wasn’t the first time
she’d had to deal with an irate patient. Fatigue and her own strong-willed nature
were making it difficult not to give in to the urge to fight back, but she
knew that would only make the situation worse. Taking a deep breath, she forced her
voice to be calm and even.
“I’d
like to have a chest X-ray done, to see the extent of the damage. Then you can take a shower, get
cleaned up, and report back here.”
Not even
waiting for a response, Janet turned and walked away.
^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ *
“Doctor?”
What now? Janet thought. It seemed she’d only just sat
down at her desk to begin work on the draft of her preliminary report. Looking up she saw Nurse Taylor in the
doorway. The woman appeared just as
tired as Janet felt, but at least her expression displayed some signs of
contrition for her interruption.
“Yes,
what is it?” Janet managed to reply without sounding too perturbed.
“Doctor
Jackson’s X-rays,” Taylor answered, handing the file across her
desk.
“Thank
you.”
Janet
stood, placed the X-rays on the rack and switched on the light. Immediately she saw that three of the
ribs on his left side had sustained minor fractures, but that appeared to be
the extent of the damage. She studied the results closely, making sure not to
miss anything. Satisfied, she
turned off the light.
Three cracked ribs, she silently considered. He
had to have been in a lot more pain than he was letting on.
A renewed
sensation of weariness settled over her.
With a heavy sigh she slumped back into her chair, closing her eyes
and running a hand across her face.
It had
been a long day. Or has it been two days? She wasn’t sure any more. What she did know was that this had
proven to be her first major trial in this new job, and while –
fortunately – she’d come through alright, it had taken just about
everything she had.
Janet had
suspected that accepting the position of Chief Medical Officer at the SGC
would be unlike anything she’d ever experienced in her career
before. She’d even been
secretly thrilled by the notion of the challenge. But nothing had been able to fully
prepare her for the truth.
She’d
spent the first week reading files and being briefed about the nature of what
went on at the mysterious mountain.
The next couple weeks were spent familiarizing herself with protocol
and layout of the base, her staff, and some of the SGC personnel. She’d begun meeting her patients
through routine checkups and examinations. Then, just this week, she’d
stepped up and taken full control in her new role. Little did she know that a mission by
one of the SG teams would result in practically everyone going primitive, and
her being expected to find the solution.
Yes,
she’d managed to solve the problem, and thankfully things around base
were returning to normal. But she
was exhausted. Reason told her
she should have taken a rest.
Technically, her shift had ended, and things were sufficiently under
control that the staff could manage for a few hours without her. Still, Janet had always taken her work
seriously. She didn’t like
to leave things unfinished. So
she’d kept pushing herself, kept going, knowing she wouldn’t feel
completely at ease until SG-1 returned and she received word that the people
of P3X-797 had responded positively to the antidote.
Yet when SG-1 finally does return,
you end up biting the head off one of its members, she mentally berated
herself. And if there was
anything she hated more than leaving something in her work unfinished, it was
allowing her mood to influence how she dealt with her patients.
A light rapping
at the door interrupted the negative turn of her musings.
Janet
glanced up and attempted to connect a name with the face of the male nurse
currently standing in the doorway.
When nothing came to mind she finally rose, stepping closer so she
could read his name tag.
“Yes,
Anderson,
what can I do for you?”
“Doctor
Jackson has returned to the infirmary,” Anderson replied.
She
nodded, fighting against the weariness that continued to pull at her. “Thank you. I’ll be right there.”
He was
sitting on the same bed as before, somewhat aloof, staring ahead at some
nonspecific point along the wall.
When he noticed her approach, Janet could have sworn his shoulders
sagged just a little and he surreptitiously avoided her gaze.
She took
a slow, steadying breath, intent on making her apology first thing and then
maintaining a more positive bedside manner than she’d displayed
previously. “Doctor
Jackson,” she began, purposefully making her voice friendly.
He held
up a hand, cutting her off.
“Before you begin, there’s something I have to say.”
Janet
blinked. His tone had been
steady, his expression unrevealing.
She realized she didn’t have the slightest idea where this was
headed.
“Okay…”
she replied hesitantly.
In the
fraction of a heartbeat his entire comportment changed. His expression softened, disclosing an
unmistakable look of repentance.
He unwaveringly met her eyes and she suddenly found herself rooted to
the spot where she stood, surprised by the sheer compelling nature of that
clear blue stare.
“I’m
sorry.” His voice was
gentle and sincere. He gave a
tiny shrug before continuing, “I don’t know why I went off on you
like that before. I guess I was
just tired, and a little taken off guard by your… style of
questioning. Besides that, my side
hurt like hell. And, as long as
I’m telling all, I’ll just go ahead and admit that I’m not
exactly very comfortable around medical doctors.” The barest hint of a smile tugged at
the corner of his mouth with this confession, but he quickly grew serious again. “Still, none of that is an
excuse for my behavior. I hope
you’ll accept my apology.”
Perhaps
it was her current state of mind, tired and frazzled from working straight
for who knew how many hours. Or
maybe it was the fact that she just didn’t know this man all that
well. But something about his
earnest concession touched her deeply.
Rather
unexpectedly, Janet found herself struggling to get her bearings. “Um, thank you,” she
finally managed. “And yes,
of course I accept your apology.”
He sighed, visibly relieved.
“Thank you.”
Feeling
herself back in control again, Janet pressed on. “Although, I was actually going
to apologize to you.” She couldn’t help but smile at
his look of befuddlement before going on to explain, “my behavior before,
that’s not actually my normal style
of questioning. In fact, I
was totally in the wrong, allowing my own fatigue to color my manner towards
you. I’m sorry.”
He nodded
slowly, and she could practically see the wheels churning in his head as he
processed this new information.
“Then I accept your apology. Now we’re even.”
“Fair
enough,” she agreed.
“Now, what do you say we try this again?”
“Deal.”
Glad all
that was out of the way, Janet proceeded to explain his X-ray results. “I can give you a rib belt, and
something for the pain. But for
the most part, it’s just a matter of giving the ribs time to
heal.”
He peered
at her over the rims of his glasses as one eyebrow went up
inquisitively. “A rib
belt?”
“It’s
a strap of elastic and Velcro you can adjust around your chest. It helps alleviate the pain.”
“Ah.” The eyebrow went up again, but this
time the expression was decidedly more mischievous. “Sounds like fun. I’ll take one.”
Janet
found herself smiling again. This Doctor Jackson definitely has
a… playful side. She
called to one of the nurses, giving instructions for a rib belt and
medication to be brought.
“I
take it the natives of P3X-797 responded well to the antidote?” she
asked into the ensuing silence.
“Yeah,”
he replied. “We showed Tupelo and the other
leaders how to administer it.
Most of their people who had become the Touched were already
recovering by the time we left.
Sam said something about our scientists needing to return so they
could study the plants and the food on the planet, in order to determine what
it is that produces the antihistamines naturally, so they can learn to stay
immune to the infection.”
Janet
couldn’t help but notice that he became more animated as he
talked. She vaguely recalled
reading something in the basic info of his medical file about his skills and
interests being in anthropology as well as archaeology and linguistics. Clearly, working with indigenous
peoples on other planets was an aspect of his job that he greatly enjoyed.
Casually
crossing her arms across her chest Janet said, “I imagine they must
have been grateful for your assistance.”
“Very
grateful – almost too grateful,” he acknowledged, a hint of color
rising in his cheeks. “They
kept going on and on about us being such beneficial gods, despite all our
attempts to explain otherwise. It
was getting to be rather embarrassing.”
Janet
couldn’t quite hide her grin at the mental image his description had
conjured.
“Speaking
of being grateful,” he suddenly interposed, catching her gaze, “I
understand we have you to thank for
figuring out the infection was histamine based, and developing the
antidote. Good job!”
Never one
entirely comfortable with open praise, she donned a somewhat sheepish expression
and waved her hand in an attempt to downplay the entire scenario. “I had lots of help, not the
least of which was from yourself and Mr. Teal’c, going for those blood
samples I needed.”
Janet was
grateful the nurse arrived then, providing further opportunity to turn the
conversation away from her role in recent events. “Here, let me show you how to
position this rib belt,” she said after he’d taken the pain
medication.
She
finished tightening the belt around his chest, pulled his shirt down over the
elastic fabric, and asked, “How’s that - can you still breathe
normally?”
“Yeah,”
he responded, taking a deep breath.
He let it out slowly.
“Hey, that actually does ease the pain a bit.”
“You
can wear it almost continuously for up to four days,” she instructed,
“but you should try to do without it as comfort allows after that. I want to you stop by for a check up
within twenty-four hours, and then again within forty-eight. And be sure and let me know if the
pain worsens in any way, or if you develop any difficulty breathing.”
“Alright,”
he said, easing down from the bed.
“Anything else?”
Janet
shook her head. “Just take
it easy, try not to overdo. Your
fractures aren’t terribly severe, but broken ribs can become a serious
problem if you aggravate the injury.”
He nodded
in understanding and, thinking her job finished, Janet turned to go. But she was stopped by a light touch
on her sleeve. She looked back to
find Doctor Jackson gazing at her.
Although he seemed a little unsure, that inexplicably compelling
expression was reflected in blue eyes again.
“Thank
you.” He waved a hand at
his chest. “For this, for
working so hard to find an antidote, and for being the first doctor
who… who actually managed not to make me feel totally uncomfortable.”
She stood
there for a couple of seconds, uncertain how to respond. “You’re welcome,”
she finally managed.
“And
you really don’t have to call him Mister.”
“Excuse
me?”
“Teal’c,”
he clarified. “You
don’t have to call him Mister.
I mean, I understand you’re doing so out of respect and
professionalism, but the Jaffa
really don’t have formal titles – at least not in the same sense
we do. So he won’t be the
least bit offended if you just call him Teal’c.”
“I
see,” Janet replied, although she wasn’t entirely positive that
she did.
“And
besides…” His
expression became somewhat abashed as he went on, “It does sound rather
ridiculous.”
Coming
from someone else, Janet might have taken offense at the comment. But she instinctively knew he
hadn’t meant it that way. A
light smile lit her face as she admitted, “Yeah, I guess you’re
right about that.”
“And
if Jack ever heard you say Mr.
Teal’c…” An
impish half-smile was all he offered, leaving the comment hanging in the air
between them.
Janet
momentarily wondered what he was thinking. She’d already decided that
Colonel O’Neill was definitely going to be one of her patients that
required what she called unique
attention, but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t manage. And besides, in this recent ordeal the
colonel had also proven himself a man of excellence and integrity. Janet just knew she was going to enjoy
serving with him.
Looking
at the man standing in front of her, she couldn’t help but think that
premonition was going to hold true for all
the members of SG-1.
As the
silence lingered, Janet suddenly felt a little playfulness of her own. Deciding to take the bait, she
carefully crossed her arms, shifted into what she knew was her best
no-nonsense stance, and said, “If Colonel O’Neill ever heard me
say that, he’d what…?”
She
wasn’t entirely sure what she’d expected, but it certainly
wasn’t the roguish grin that momentarily flitted across his features.
“Doesn’t
matter. I just got the distinct
impression that you’re more than capable of handling Jack.”
Without
another word, he turned and casually sauntered out of the infirmary. And Janet suddenly realized that,
oddly enough, she’d found his final, almost back-handed compliment way
more affecting than any of the more obvious commendations he’d offered.
Interesting, she reflected, shaking her head
bemusedly as she headed back to her office. She had to admit there simply
wasn’t any more apt description for her encounters with this man.
She’d
gotten an inkling of that from the moment they first met. Although he’d been fairly
reserved towards her when SG-1 had come in for their pre-mission checkup a
few days ago, Janet had noticed the way he interacted with the other members
of the team. She’d sensed
there was a special camaraderie there, born from exceptional people and
exceptional circumstances. And
then when she’d been talking with General Hammond, shortly after Doctor
Jackson had been attacked by Colonel O’Neill, she’d gotten a similar
impression – particularly when he’d looked her right in the eye
and responded to one of her queries with you’re
the doctor, Doctor.
Settling
in at her desk, Janet felt a smile pull at her mouth. Yes,
there’s definitely something interesting about that Doctor Jackson
– about that whole team, actually… I think I’m going to be really
glad I took this position here.
Janet
allowed her mind to wander for a few additional seconds, then turning her
focus toward work once more, she reached for her keyboard and began her
preliminary report.
~ FINIS ~
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